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Congratulations to the New Lead Artist of Rasputin Catamite, Ram Lama.

Promoting and writing four webcomics, along with managing a team of artists and a professional researcher is a lot of hard work.  So in an effort to delegate my work, I had to pick a new lead artist for Rasputin Catamite. I realize that there are few things more annoying to the average webcomic fan than a change of artist.  But trust me on this, the new guy is totally worth it.  Out of ten applicants, the choice came down to two artists and it was incredibly difficult.

The Worthy Contender

The runner up for the position, Aviv Itzcovitz  was an outstanding candidate. Aviv is one of the most thorough and professional artists I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  He is a style chameleon with an impressive  range that is also capable of impeccable consistecy, frame after frame.  His communication skills and concern for detail make him the perfect person for anyone looking for a comic artist with a no-nonsense approach to creating funny pictures.  Aviv’s complete fearlessness when it comes to tackling very difficult subject matter left me in total awe.  Honestly, if I end up with sufficient budget to make a special side story comic book with the Rasputin Catamite characters, Aviv will honestly be the first person I will go to for commissioning such a work.  He is such a pleasure to work with!  If you want to see more of what Aviv is capable of, I suggest checking out his addictive and criminally underrated fantasy webcomic, Stupid Snake.  It’s on my RSS reader because I love it that much.  Click on the banner below for a webcomic experience you are not going to forget anytime soon.

The Champion

Turning down Aviv as the lead artist for Rasputin Catamite was a total bummer for me and the team.  Thankfully, Ram Lama was an absolutely stellar final pick!  Take a look at what he submitted for a sketch, before I even asked for a test page.  It was impossible not to be impressed by it, and ultimately the illustration sealed the deal for the Catnose Comics team and I.

Admittedly, I almost missed out on Ram.  His submission came in within just a few hours of me closing the casting call.  I am so grateful Catnose Comics did not miss out on this guy.  Ram, is one of the fastest, most personable and intuitive artists I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.  He seemed to anticipate my every need for the webcomic, sometimes without my giving him so much as a single instruction.  Yet, he didn’t come across as spooky or annoying in any way; just very efficient. He and I clicked right away, and could not wait to work as a team. He educated himself quite thoroughly on the Velvet Rasputin universe and he genuinely seemed to care about my characters and the story.  That is incredibly important to me as a storyteller who is very emotionally invested in zir work. Additionally, the guy is one hell of a storyteller and has a fabulous track record for delivering high quality webcomics on a consistent schedule.  He is an incredible asset.  If you haven’t seen Ram’s work before, do yourself a favor and check out his online sketchbook!

Oh no!  Hiatus!

I realize that this is a rather evil place to stop the comic for the year, but that’s where the page landed, so there’s not much I can do about it.  Anyway, Rasputin Catamite will be coming back on Wednesday, 20 June  2012 and will run with a special season ending page  on Friday, 21 December 2012.  It’s going to be awesome stuff!  I promise. Also, we will be moving the old Rasputin Catamite archives, along with the original reboot pages (that end with today’s comic) to their very own special archive galleries right in this domain, for a very special new feature that will allow you to enjoy this site with a lot less banner ads.  It will totally kick butt.

If you cannot wait until the 20th of June to see what happens next, consider making a donation to our site.  Every time we hit $250, we will give you an extra comic.  No joke! Just click on the button below to help out.  The money will go towards paying the crew here and spending money on things we desperately need like webhosting and advertising.  Even $1 donations make a huge difference.  If you make a $250 donation in  a single sitting, we will post the bonus comic, and we will post a custom sketch like the one that Ram made, in your honor.  So go ahead, click on the donate button below!

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the adventures of Dmitri, Ugly, Sasha and Zoya for 2011.  I can’t wait to share the new ones from solstice to solstice in 2012 along with Ram’s new art!  Until then, please consider signing up for the free Rasputin Catamite mailing list.  You’ll get notifications on what’s up, bonus art and, you’ll be the very first to know about the season premiere coming this summer, with a special sneak preview!   Just sign up below with your name and email address.

See you on Summer Solstice!

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Only one more comic until Rasputin Catamite comes to an end for winter hiatus.

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It’s becoming obvious that Zoya either is dumber than a rock, or that she has one hell of a kink.  In either case, it’s kind of scary.

On totally unrelated note, I’ve made a few enhancements to the site once again:

• We are caught up with the comic transcripts, after getting delayed for a few months.  The site is 100% searchable once again.
• We added a new background.  It’s one of my favorite abstract paintings that I’ve made and it looks very pretty.  I hope you all like its gothy goodness.
• We now have a dedicated Rasputin Catamite mailing list.  If you want weekly updates of what’s been going on here, along with getting the latest comic delivered right into your inbox, click here.  Save yourself a trip to the site and don’t miss a single comic.
• We added a tip jar with donation wallpaper to the website.  The fuller it gets the more comics we’ll post.  Right now, we are planning on running Rasputin Catamite from Summer Solstice 2012 to Winter Solstice 2012, when the hiatus period ends.  If you want to see Rasputin Barxotka to run every week year round, we’ll need a minimum of $1560 to make it happen.  Even a dollar donation will help us towards this goal.  If we exceed our goal, we’ll use funds towards the following: Making sure everyone in the project gets paid a decent pay rate.  Getting an additional artist to help improve the look of future pages.  Hiring a professional researcher and marketing person.  The creation of original e-book with content not seen on the free webcomic and print book editions of all our digital content.
• Simplified navigation for a more pleasant experience.

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She saw her friends get killed.  She tried to hook up with their killer.  The killer threatens her.  What are the odds she’ll freak out?  Find out next week.

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Sasha is insane, yet has a plan.  But, you probably knew that already.

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Don’t you hate it when your hook up gets interrupted by busybodies?

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Boobies!

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Once upon a time, that was my idea of dating too.

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